Ridiculous ‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ Theories: What If Rey…

Force Awakens

Between answering the unanswered questions and trying to uncover all the easter eggs, my head has been stuck deep inside the Star Wars: The Force Awakens hole this week. I can’t stop thinking about the new Star Wars movie, and like many of you, I want to see what comes next. Episode VIII is 520 days away, and that seems like forever. I’ve been chatting with friends and theorizing about possibilities of what we might see, and I’ve collected some thoughts on the matter below. So what might come next?

Please Read This Before Reading These Star Wars Episode 8 Theories

What follows is my (and others) ridiculous fan speculation. If you’re the kind of person like me who sometimes enjoys “what if”s and thoughtful fan theories, this is for you. I have no insider knowledge about the storyline for Episode VIII at this time, so this is just basically fan fiction.

It should be stated that Episode 8 writer/director Rian Johnson probably has far more creativity in one finger than I do in my whole body (as evidenced by his filmography). So I think it is very unlikely that I have stumbled onto anything that he may be planning for the next installment. I’m not suggesting any of these things should even happen, just putting them out there as part of the conversation.

That said, what I speculate about could possibly happen, so if you’re spoiler-phobic about slight possibilities, don’t read any further. Also, don’t read the following unless you have seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens as it contains spoilers for that film. So let’s get to the Star Wars Episode 8 theories.

Who Are Rey’s Parents?

In my extensive unanswered Force Awakens questions piece, I asked this question and presented four main possibilities:

The most obvious one is Rey is the daughter of Luke Skywalker
Another possibility is Rey is the daughter of Leia Organa and Han Solo, which would still make her part of the Skywalker bloodline alongside her brother Kylo Ren.
And the third, less likely, possibility that she is the granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi
And finally the least likely: Rey’s background leads to no known/established character in the Star Wars universe.

Since writing that article a friend shared with me an interesting new possibility: What if Rey was the daughter of Supreme Leader Snoke?

Okay, before you freak out, let me present the evidence:

The symmetry seems perfect: Our villain (Kylo Ren) is the son of one of our heroes (Han Solo), so why not have our new hero (Rey) be the offspring of one of our new villains (Snoke)? Much has been made about how J.J. Abrams has mirrored A New Hope in The Force Awakens, so what if Empire Strikes Back is being mirrored slightly in Episode VIII? We already had the prequel trilogy’s Obi-Wan Kenobi killed at the new Death Star, why not end Episode 8 with a twist on the most legendary “I am your father” moment.
We know almost nothing about Snoke other than the First Order answers to him and that Kylo Ren was seduced to the dark side by the Supreme leader.
Snoke appears to be very afraid of Luke Skywalker. The official novelization goes further into this, but this is why he wants to stop everyone (including Kylo Ren) from uncovering the map — he wants Luke to remain in exile. Why is Snoke so afraid of Luke? And is it possible that he hid his daughter on a desert planet in the western reaches of the galaxy to keep her out of harms way?

But we also don’t know if Snoke is a human, capable of creating human offspring. He looks almost like an alien, but maybe that is the result of the dark side of the force deteriorating/consuming his body, much like Emperor Palpatine.

I like this idea for a couple reasons: No one is expecting it and it gives our main hero more personal conflicted stakes in this new Star Wars trilogy. That said, it seems unlikely. Kathleen Kennedy has said the Star Wars saga will continue the Skywalker story. And while Kylo Ren is most definitely a Skywalker, and if this trilogy mirrors either of the previous ones, Kylo will end up redeeming himself by the end of Episode IX — so that story could continue. But it seems much more likely that Rey is a Skywalker.

As for Luke Skywalker, on the next page I explore a rumored ending for this film which didn’t happen.